Black Jack wins Hamilton Island honours this year
'2008 Hamilton Island Race Week - Day 7 ’Black Jack’ is ahead of ’Wild Oats X’'
Jack Atley© Click Here to view large photo
Yandina boat builder David Biggar has returned to his every day job building high quality fibreglass catamarans at Stallion Marine after adding another important entry in his personal log book in the warm Whitsunday Islands last week.
David Biggar a former Australian Sabot champion spent the week with an elite group of sailors including Americas Cup crew members Mark Bradford and Craig Monk and Musto Etchells Winter National champion Graeme Taylor on the action packed deck of Peter Harburg's Grand Prix sloop Black Jack.
Naturally his day to day professional boat building career was temporarily placed on hold when he enjoyed sailing his first short course regatta when Black Jack and the triple Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours champions on Bob Oatley's Wild Oats X match raced for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week trophy.
Black Jack imported from America by Peter Harburg and launched in mid July has proved to be sensationally fast breaking the record in her first major long distance race over the Brisbane to Yeppoon course before entering into an Americas Cup style match race against the defending line honours champion Wild Oats X at Hamilton Island.
The clash billed as the mini Americas Cup in the Whitsunday Islands developed into a most exciting big boat duel between two almost identical 20.3m maxi chasers.
Predictably Wild Oats X with Mark Richards at the helm and World champion Glenn Bourke in charge of the tactical strategy deserved to start as the pre regatta favourite however is soon became evident that Wild Oats X had a boat problem and that boat problem was Black Jack.
Wild Oats X had tucked in a reef and was outpaced by Black Jack on the windward leg of the Lindeman Island race but the challenge heated up when spinnakers were set at Spitfire Rock with Wild Oats X immediately engaging
Black Jack in a classic downwind tacking duel.
The race was basically decided in sight of the finish in Dent Passage when Wild Oats X stalled off a late charge to beat Black Jack by 29 seconds.
Surprisingly Black Jack was the faster over the tactically demanding windward leeward races winning all four with an average 1 minute 3 second advantage.
However they were handed a sailing lesson in the 23 n/ml Molle/Daydream Island Race when the champion Wild Oats X crew salvaged some lost pride to win the line and handicap double with her 1 minute 44 second win over Black Jack.
This result should serve as a warning to the Black Jack crew that Wild Oats X will be on the tactical warpath when they meet next.
Meanwhile Peter Harburg's talented crew who started as the underdog in the most interesting line honours battle ever staged in the 25 year history of yacht racing at Hamilton Island will take care of the prestigious Audi Hamilton Island Race Week line honours trophy until the equally skilled crews meet again in August 2009.
by Ian Grant 
Port Macquarie, NSW
